REVIEW: HER SHOES at Old Red Lion Theatre (FreshFest) 26 – 28 Jan 2024

‘precision and control in this tale of unsolved mystery ... a masterful performance’ ★★★★

Megan Marszal writes and performs a riveting story. Megan Marszal is in perfect control of every emotional beat. Megan Marszal keeps her audience engaged, amused, interested. Megan Marszal’s story has no perceptible end. It just sort of… stops. Normally this would raise a whole marquee’s worth of red flags. Why didn’t she take another pass at the script? Why did her director (Lucinda Freeburn, who appeared to be better than competent up to that point) not insist that Ms. Marszal has another go? None of those things happen because the perfect, the appropriate, ending to her story is a hiatus, a fizzle. A conclusion in which nothing is concluded. It is a very brave writing decision, and it is of a piece with the precision and control with which she manages this tale of an unsolved mystery.

She deploys a huge range of deft character sketches, using accents, pin-sharp physical gestures, tiny costume changes, to assist her narrator in the telling, and while some of those characters are funny, they are funny in a naturalistic context, no-one is mocked. Her principal narrator is a young Bristolian hair-dresser called Emma, and Emma is delightful. Sharp, witty, charming, bravely coping with her mother’s illness, and ultimately destroyed by the unfolding event. It is a masterful performance.

Megan Marszal is assisted by a stripped back set and a small array of props that are well chosen for their appropriateness but don’t clutter the space or encroach on the closeness and empathy Megan builds with her audience. Lucinda Freeburn’s direction is subtle and effective, keeping the story flowing and  dynamic with no fuss, no grandstanding. The emotional beats land powerfully without anyone nudging you in the ribs and telling you “This bit’s important, pay attention.” Cameron Pike places sound and light cues with admirable precision, making the tech another performer in dialogue with the actor.

It is altogether a sensational production, perfectly suited to the intimacy of the ORL’s playing space. It is part of their FreshFest festival of new writing. The theatre has found a winner.

HER SHOES at Old Red Lion Theatre (FreshFest) 26 – 28 Jan 2024

Box Office https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/her-shoes.html

Reviewed by Chris Lilly